CHENGDU: Indonesia’s young women’s singles shuttlers continued to impress in the Uber Cup Finals.
A day after 19-year-old Ester Nurumi rose to the occasion to give the team the winning point against Thailand, 21-year-old Komang Ayu (pic) stepped up against defending champions South Korea to send Indonesia into their first final in 16 years.
The tie was locked at 2-2 and Indonesia needed Komang to deliver in the third singles and she did not disappoint.
The youngster came from behind to beat Kim Min-sun 17-21, 21-16, 21-19 in a hard fought 69-minute match at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center in Chengdu yesterday.
Earlier, South Korea were dealt a blow after world No. 1 An Se-young was ruled out of the tie due to illness.
Her absence was a big loss for South Korea, who were already without the injured world No. 15 Kim Ga-eun.
World No. 9 Gregoria Mariska took full advantage by beating world No. 37 Sim Yu-jin 21-15, 21-13 in the first singles.
Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee levelled the tie with a 21-6, 21-18 win over Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti.
In the second singles, Ester continued her heroics when she battled past Kim Ga-ram 20-22, 21-16, 21-12.
Jeong Na-eun-Kong Hee-yong again gave Korea hope by beating Lanny Tria-Ribka Sugiarto 21-15, 21-14 but Komang had the final say.
Komang was overjoyed after giving her team the winning point.
“It has been so long since Indonesia even made it past the last eight and we were very motivated to end the long wait,” said Komang.
“Honestly, I did not expect the tie to go to the decider and I was nervous at first but thankfully I managed to handle the situation well and get the win.
“Se-young’s absence did give us an advantage as she is Korea’s best player.
“This win means a lot to us and we hope to continue performing well in the final.”
Indonesia will take on homesters China in a repeat of the 2008 final which the latter won 3-0.
China ousted Japan 3-0 in the other last four tie.
